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Minnesota and Dad’s Italian Sausage Lasagna

I’m in Minnesota (MN), U.S., this week. If you’ve never been here, it is a beautiful place — referred to as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. In fact, MN has many aquatic natural wonders. It claims 11,842 lakes greater than 10 acres, the origin of the Mississippi River, and perhaps most interesting, surface waters that flow east (to the Atlantic Ocean), south (to the Gulf of Mexico) and north (to Canada’s Hudson Bay). MN also borders on the world’s largest freshwater lake – Lake Superior. But I digress yet again.

I am in MN visiting my father. If you’re a regular reader, you know I’m old, so, you can imagine that my Dad is really old — and he is – an amazing 96.

My Dad doesn’t cook much anymore, so when I visit, I usually cook up a storm and stock his freezer. My sister’s house (where I stay when I’m here) has a fabulous new kitchen, which is a delight to cook in. My somewhat aggressive cooking makes her quite nervous, but I try to tell her that kitchens like hers are made to be used – and not babied. So far, I’ve been lucky; I haven’t done any permanent damage.

Anyway, this week, my Dad asked for lasagna. What a surprise. He ALWAYS asks for lasagna. I decided not to bother to ask if he wanted beef or sausage — as he ALWAYS wants Italian sausage (you get pretty set in your ways when you are 96). I thought I’d make as much as possible (one large and two small baking dishes) to keep him in stock.

In order to make this volume in the time available, I had to cut one corner (which I absolutely HATE to do), and that is use “no-boil” pasta. It was either that or I wouldn’t have time to make all three dishes. The no-boil requires a bit of recipe adjusting, but if all your other ingredients are up to standard, it makes a very workable dish — not company caliber, but very good for a family meal.

Here are the benefits you get from no-boil pasta – particularly when you are cooking large volumes:

It saves you from boiling multiple batches of pasta.

It avoids laying out cooked pasta in sheet pans (so they don’t stick together or get twisted in knots).

No-boil also means that you are starting your lasagna with a water shortage (very unlike the state of Minnesota). If you don’t add that back into the recipe, your lasagna noodles and/or the overall texture will be dry.

COOKING FUNDAMENTALS: PASTA, “NO-BOIL”. “No Boil” pasta sheets differ from regular dry pasta sheets in a couple of ways. First, they are thinner, providing more surface area per volume of pasta and allowing water from the sauce to be absorbed during cooking. Second, they contain slightly different ingredients to traditional pasta (contain egg) to give the thinner shape a better texture in the final dish. The result is not as good as pre-boiled regular dry pasta, but it is a workable shortcut for family meals. An alternative, if you can find it, is fresh refrigerated pasta sheets. These contain some residual moisture and are suitable for a “no boil” method if they are not too thick. When using “no boil” pasta sheets, be sure to add extra liquid to your dish.

1. Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a sturdy stainless or enamel-coated iron pot. A good Dutch oven works well. Add chopped onion and celery and sweat a few minutes until translucent. Add carrot and garlic and cook a few minutes more – until you clearly smell the garlic aroma.

2. Remove all vegetables from the pot and set aside. Add sausage meat to the same pot (if cased, remove casings) and cook through completely. Add tomato paste and stir through. Add red wine and simmer for 5 minutes to let some of wine evaporate. Return reserved vegetables to the pot. Add herbs, spices and diced tomatoes. Salt to taste. Depending on the salt in the sausage, it may not need much salt. Simmer on low heat for about 45 minutes — until flavors blend.

3. While sauce is cooking, make the ricotta mix and prepare the cheeses.

4. In a large bowl, whisk ricotta. Add beaten eggs (or beat in the side of the ricotta bowl). Stir in parmesan, salt, pepper, parsley and lemon zest.

5. Cut the fresh mozzarella into slices – about 1/4 inch thick and the size of a teaspoon.

7. For assembly, place a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of 2 lasagna dishes (or 9×13 baking pans). Do not use aluminum.

Layer of Sauce

Cover the base of the pans with one layer of noodles. Top noodles with another layer of sauce, spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture and pieces of fresh mozzarella. If you are using two pans, each layer will get 1/4 of your total amount of ricotta or mozzarella.

Layer of Pasta with Sauce, Ricotta and Mozzarella on Top; Ready for Next Layer

Repeat with another layer of noodles, sauce, ricotta/mozzarella.

Top with a third layer of noodles. Top this layer of noodles with sauce and the final quantity of parmesan cheese.

If you have a deep lasagna pan, you can include an extra layer of noodles/sauce/cheese. In this case, using 2 pans, each layer would get 1/6 of your total amount of ricotta/mozzarella. If you don’t have deep pans, you may end up with extra ingredients for a third small pan, or you can simply use fewer noodles and have a richer lasagna (as described in the recipe).

NOTE: If you use “no-boil” noodles, I recommend that you add extra liquid (wine, tomato or water) to the sauce. For this entire recipe, which calls for 24 ounces of noodles for cooking, I would add about 2-3 cups of additional liquid to the sauce.

12 thoughts on “Minnesota and Dad’s Italian Sausage Lasagna”

J – I have never been to Minnesota, “Land of 10,000 Lakes” – but, now I’m keen to visit (especially if I get a taste of your Italian sausage lasagne!) What a great take on a classic. YUM!

Lasagne is a favourite with the teenager, but his palate can’t tell the difference between my 8-hour number and the one I buy from the Italian Deli down the road (so the former only gets a look-in on special occasions at our place).

Interesting. Probably not surprising that the name was adopted in MN. Most of the original settlers of MN were from Norway, Sweden and Finland. Northern Europeans drawn to a similar northern climate/geography in the U.S.